I also timed this for a `_tran` optimization (instead of looping and doing the `ord`), but it didn't really make a difference.
```
_tran = defaultdict(lambda: 'x')
_tran.update({40: 40,    # ord('(')
              91: 40,    # ord('[')
              123: 40,   # ord('{')
              41: 41,    # ord(')')
              93: 41,    # ord(']')
              125: 41,   # ord('}')
              34: 34,    # ord('"')
              39: 39,    # ord("'")
              92: 92,    # ord("\\")
              10: 10,    # ord("\n")
              35: 35,    # ord("#")
              })
```
I think both the loop and the above mapping are equally difficult to understand without stopping to think about it.